Most RN's first borns?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Hi everybody,

I have a question and PLEASE dont anybody blast me for typecasting, this was not MY statement, it was a LCSW I was friends with. She claims that a huge % of nurses are first born females of alcoholic fathers. Something to do with the fact that as the first born in dysfunction family of origin you are a caregiver from the get-go. Now my father was not an alcoholic, but I am a first born. I was wondering how many of us are first-borns. (Also, she said this to me a long time ago, and I have lost touch with her, so I cannot ask her where the heck she got her information was) I was just starting school at the time and didnt really fight with her about it, just kind of gave her one of the Hmmm, thats an interesting opinion.... answers. Also, she meant it as a compliment, that we take a difficult beginning and build on our strengths and turn them into a career.

So, how many first borns are out there?

KristyBRN

Specializes in Transplant/Surgical ICU.

Still a student but Im the third born. The first born in the family was a pre-med major but now nursing student too! No alcoholics in the family, as far as Im aware

Specializes in NICU.

Second born, but the "good one". No ETOH, but + abuse, although not by parents.

Youngest of 6 and male, no ETOH but plenty of dysfunction nonetheless. Also, no other nurses in the family. Never the most outgoing one, but always the one who would find alternative paths and notice details that the others hadn't, which I think must account for both the music and nursing careers.

As much as I love smashing stereotypes/preconceptions, birthrank-related theories have always interested me. For instance, very little in my upbringing (as far as I can see) points to me being a caregiver, but somehow people saw it in me before I did and suggested nursing back when I thought it was out of the question. Co-workers see it in me now, too. These things all have roots somewhere, but they're not always as plainly obvious as we'd like them to be, which keeps things interesting!

On a related note, a neat read is Born to Rebel (I forget the author's name), though the guy paints with pretty broad strokes, and had clearly never met many in the nursing profession. He suggests that firstborns are the more authoritative type, due to their having only parents to look up to from Day One, while lastborns are more freethinking, due to their having to scramble to find a niche-role to fill in the family ranks. I've known too many people who have gone against those generalizations to take them too seriously, but he does raise some thought-provoking points.

-Kevin (I guess I did end up the "wordy one"!:lol2:)

Youngest daughter of alcoholic father. However, I'm more like an only child because my older sister is many years older than me and was out of the house when our father got really bad.

Specializes in Med-Surg.

I'm the oldest of two, the youngest being eight years younger, and a spoiled brat (But I do love him, more since we don't live together).

My mother of good moral fiber divorced my drunk, dopehead biological father when I was eight.

So, I guess I fit right on it.

But... My mother of good moral fiber is a nurse. Youngest of 4 kids, neither parents drinks. Dad did smoke.

Specializes in midwifery, NICU.

Okay, am bein duh here, please tell me, as I cant figure it out, whats ETOH stand for??:uhoh3:

Specializes in Med-Surg.
Okay, am bein duh here, please tell me, as I cant figure it out, whats ETOH stand for??:uhoh3:

Good ol' liquor. Alcohol. The social lubricant. Fire water.

Okay, I'll quit.

Specializes in Cardiac x3 years, PACU x1 year.

Only child (more toys for me) and father is a "functional" alcoholic. havent seen him in 17 years or so, since I was 7 years old (not sure if its nature v. nurture issue?)

Mom is a nurse as well, shes the first born of a quite dysfunctional, well educated, however nonalcoholic family.

ew, my fam is weird. :devil:

Mom always told me to try to breed out the mental illness. hehe.

first female, no alcoholism, lots of love in our family growing up

Specializes in Acute Care Cardiac, Education, Prof Practice.

1st and only, non-alcoholic father.

Specializes in ER/Nuero/PHN/LTC/Skilled/Alzheimer's.

I'm a first born female, my husband in NS is first born, my little brother is second born but first male and graduates NS this spring. No alcohol for either my parents or my in-laws. Interesting theory though, It may be something connected to having responsibility to younger siblings or where in the family dynamic the care-takers are. My mom was first born and wanted to be a nurse and my grandmother was first born and wanted to be a nurse. Neither could afford college though.

Not a nurse yet, but I'm first born and my father is a recovering alcoholic.

Oddly, my closest cousin is already a nurse - and first born. Another cousin is married to a nurse and she's the only female with 3 older brothers.

+ Add a Comment